Occasionally, I get a comment or question that needs more than just a quick response. Yesterday, just such a comment came from Outstanding Citizen Mark. Mark wrote the following:

Hello,
Weird request – do you have the lyrics to the last part of “Fanny Shake Polka” – I could never quite get what he sings after, “I took my Fanny to the airport, to give her a thrill. She knew the pilot(?) ???? and(?) ????, -the part’s going still-(?)… When you..???”

Any help appreciated, this has been driving me nuts for about 30 years.
Thanks,
-Mark

Great question, Mark. I must first confess that I am not, in fact, an expert on Polka. But, just for you, I did some research and have learned all sorts of interesting things about this under appreciated musical genre.

Sadly, I was unable to find the lyrics. It seems that the Fanny Shake Polka is the polka equivalent of Louie Louie. It’s lyrics are shrouded in mystery and a great deal of controversy has followed the song throughout its life. At one time, the song was banned from the Polka Varieties show on WEWS in Cleveland. Parents thought the lyrics may indeed incite kids to have sex or worse, take up curling.

The song’s origin itself is fascinating. It was penned by none other than Bob Dylan. Dylan has written many polka songs under false names as  not to alienate his traditional audience.  Shirlee Petvkovsec of the Polka Hall of Fame states, “Dylan is the most prolific songwriter in Polka history and should be honored for his contributions. Unfortunately, nobody is quite sure how many fake names he has used, and he’s certainly not talking. It makes me sad.”

Dylan’s polka fetish was to be documented in the bio-pic My Secret Polka Lifestarring Johnny Depp, but the project was scrapped when Depp decided to do Tim Burton’s version of Alice In Wonderland.

I just downloaded the Fanny Shake Polkaand I must say, it made me want to go to an Octoberfest and drink lots of beer. Or take up curling.

Carry On, Citizens!